Emerald of the Hunt
by Wildflower18
Summary: After escaping Tartarus and saving the world, Percy and Annabeth aren't as lively as everyone else. Instead, they both slip into depression and develop PTSD. Sadly, Annabeth couldn't save herself. But, can Percy, with the support of the gods, respect of the Hunt and love of the goddess of the moon, be able to pick up the pieces of his broken life and learn to be happy for once?
**Author's Note: Why hello there, people on the interwebs! I usually don't read author's notes, and consequently, I don't expect you to read mine.**

 **I would just like to say that there will be ABSOLUTELY NO chapters that are filled with only author's notes instead of content.**

 **Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy my story!**

 **OH WAIT…**

 **This story was inspired by the following fanfics:**

 **The Queen's Champion by Anaklusmos14**

 **Broken by Blackjackxx (who took her story down for personal reasons)**

 **The Angel of Chaos by Blackjackxx (who took her story down for personal reasons)**

 **Sunburn by SacredAlessa**

 **I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does. I also give props to all of the other fanfiction authors mentioned above. Check out their stories, they're fabulous! (Warning: Sunburn by SacredAlessa involves various chapters that may be very inappropriate for some viewers! Read at your own risk!)**

 **CHAPTER 1: Why?**

He groaned and ran a hand through his untamed hair in frustration. It had only been a few weeks since the Giant War ended, and all of the other campers were celebrating their victory with parties and sing-alongs, none of which Percy attended, of course; he hadn't been in the mood for singing lately.

It's not that he was angry or anything…

He was broken; that's what he was, broken.

Ever since he and Annabeth had made their way out of Tartarus he had been having blood-curdling nightmares. Not that Annabeth was without them though, she'd been having plenty of them lately. Even worse than Percy's were, apparently. Or else he wouldn't have had to tackle her when she aimed her dagger at her own chest…

Shuddering, Percy closed his eyes and tried not to remember the incident…if he could even call it that. He couldn't stop thinking of how tears streamed down her face as she moved the dagger closer and closer to her chest as it slowly heaved up and down.

No…he wasn't going to think about it. All that mattered was that she was with him. Well, she was alive; the truth is that he hadn't seen her since breakfast. But when he had seen her, she completely disregarded him; it was as if they had never gone through literal hell together. She did, however, walk up to him as he was throwing his food away to give him a heated and passionate kiss, telling him that she loved him with all of her heart. The thought of it scared him.

After all, he wasn't complaining about the kiss; if anything, their kiss was the highlight of his day. What he was worried about was the reason for their kiss. It was just meaningful and deep as when they kissed underwater after the Titan War, which they hadn't done in quite a while.

A feeling of anxiety ran through his chest, chilling him to the bone. Rising from his spot on one of the bleachers in the archery range, Percy signaled to the instructor, Will Solace, that he had to go.

Seeing the look on Percy's face, Will decided against telling him he had to stay. Although the son of Poseidon desperately needed the instruction, the look in his eyes told him that he'd deeply regret telling him to stay. Sighing, Will motioned to the door. Cracking the smallest of smiles, Percy thanked him and bolted out of the door.

Charging up the steps of the Blue House, Percy knocked on the wooden door, which opened up to the rugged face of his favorite teacher.

"Percy, my boy", Chiron greeted with a sincere smile. "What brings you here?"

"Hey Chiron," panted Percy, trying to catch his breath. "I was wondering if you've seen…"

"Annabeth?" Chiron inquired, completely disregarding the fact that he had cut Percy off.

"Yea, have you seen her?"

"Yes, I saw her at lunch. She asked me if she could skip her classes and read a book in the, 'peace and silence of the woods'."

"She's in the woods!" Percy screamed, panicked.

"Yes, but she's just reading a book Percy. What's the harm in that?" replied Chiron placing a calming hand on the demigod's shoulder.

"She's alone…in the woods…all by herself…" Percy said slowly, waiting for centaur to realize what he was implying.

"Yes Percy, we already discussed this…" Chiron said worriedly, reaching out to place a hand on Percy's forehead. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Percy said, pushing the hand away. "I just need to go find Annabeth…", he said as he backed down the wooden steps slowly.

"Perseus!" Chiron called. "What's wrong?" he asked suspiciously, catching on to the fact that something was off about the demigod's behavior.

"Thanks Chiron," Percy screamed over his shoulder as he dashed into the woods, having too many thoughts racing around in his mind to answer the centaur. "I'll see you later!"

Anxiously, Percy shouted Annabeth's name as he raced through the forest, bumping into cursing wood nymphs (who would probably be spitting in his food later) and tripping over the gnarling roots of oak trees.

"Annabeth!" he called loudly.

After about ten minutes of searching, he finally came Zeus' Fist and sunk down against the cluster of rocks. _Where could she be?_ he thought, while running a hand through his hair at his frustration. Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time that day, he closed his eyes and laid his head against the cluster of rocks in defeat.

Opening his eyes, Percy groaned and slowly rose to his feet. Ten minutes of running and screaming his girlfriend's name took quite a toll on the hero. Naturally, Percy found his way to the small creak where he had played Capture the Flag for the first time. Dipping his hands in, he scooped up a handful of water to slash over his face. As he was doing so, he felt his hand brush against a figure in the water.

Beyond startled, Percy jumped up and drew his sword, poking the figure curiously.

 _Poke._

 _Poke._

 _Poke._

The figure remained still.

Ever so cautiously, Percy reached into the dark waters and grabbed the figure, which happened to be a lot heavier than he had originally thought. Pulling with more force, Percy lifted the muddy figure out of the water carefully. A look of panic carved its way onto his face as he realized that the figure he was holding was a body. The person's hands were held together with celestial bronze handcuffs, as were their feet.

Wiping the mud off of the figure's face with the hem of his camp shirt, Percy examined their features carefully. Horror immediately rushed over him as he realized who the body he was holding actually belonged to.

"No!" he screamed as he held the body closer, tears streaming down his face. "Please, no…this can't be happening…"

The ground trembled furiously, along with the shoulders of the son of the sea god. The trees around him shook, causing pine cones to hit the ground hard, some of which even hit him. But he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. All he could feel was his heart tightening and falling out of its place. All he could see, through the teary haze of his eyes, was his world collapsing around him.

He stood there, on his knees for what seemed like hours, but was actually a short period of minutes, staring at the figure beneath him. He heard the clashing of armor and silent _clonk, clonck_ of hooves hitting the ground coming toward him, but he stared at the figure, head hung low with agony.

The sounds died down once whoever was causing them stood behind him, and looked over his shoulder to see the body that he was holding so close to himself.

"Percy, my boy…" Chiron began in a whisper, "I'm so sorry."

That was all he could say. There was nothing else to say. With the love of his life lying dead in his arms, Percy broke down into tears. Bawling like a child, he clinged to the figure as if his life depended on it.

"Percy…" Chiron said again, trying to get the demigod's attention.

"Percy, come here son. Let her go," Chiron said as if he was trying to talk him out of killing himself. "Everything will be okay."

Chiron signaled for the Apollo campers to take the body away from Percy. However, when Will Solace reached out to take the body from Percy, the boy only held onto it tighter.

"Percy," Chiron tried again. "You need to them take her."

Still refusing to even acknowledge his instructor, Percy buried his face deep into the crook of the figure's neck and continued to bawl loudly. His fellow campers stared at his hunched body in awe. They'd never seen their hero so broken down, especially not to the point of crying as much and as loudly as he was then.

It took the whole Ares cabin to pry Percy off of the corpse of his beloved. But, finally, they managed separate them and pin him to the forest floor.

"Annabeth!" he screamed in agony, trying with all of his might to grab her back from the hands of the Apollo kids. However, the Ares cabin continued to hold him back, until the Apollo cabin had carried her out of sight. Signaling for the Ares cabin to release the heart-broken boy, Chiron sighed and reached for his shoulder.

"Let's go, Percy" he said calmly, hoping to soothe the trembling demigod.

"I can't believe it…" Percy breathed, still ignoring the centaur.

Sighing once more, Chiron, with the help of many other campers pulled Percy to his feet and practically carried him into his cabin where he sat on his bed and stared at the wall, letting silent tears run down his cheeks. But even as his closest friends patted his back and whispered reassuring words into his ear, all he could say was _why?_

 **Hilo peoples! I apologize for the lack of expression in this chapter, but the beginning isn't as exciting as what I have planned for later on. ;) Please leave me a comment or a like! Tell me how you feel about this chapter or how I could improve it in any way (I'll give you credit for the changes, I promise!) I'll post as often as I can.**

 **Sorry for the cliff-hanger!**


End file.
